I hate or maybe not that harsh, but I don't like going for family gathering or kenduri when we were small, not entirely because of scared meeting many people but the thought of waiting for bas bandaran no.2 under the shade of trees in front of an old wooden house with black planks and railing that look like they gonna fall down..and sometimes that house looks a little bit spooky for my wild imagination..(this is just part of the reason anyway)..the journey itself from Seberang Perak will take about half and hour or more despite it short distance to the final station which is stesen bas baru. Riding a bus was not a first choice back then, but we can't afford to have a car so bas bandaran was the most economical way to travel. From Seberang Perak it will travel to Stesen Bas Lama and head to Stesen Bas Baru where another waiting session awaits us, there were less seat, it was smoky and full of people especially on Saturday where people from all ceruk of Kedah will come to Pekan Alor Setar in their most best attire..and this is also why I hate to attend kenduri...We have to wait for bas Gunung with its green body and a small picture of Gunung Keriang proudly painted on the side and the bus is always full but normally we managed to grab a seat. When we arrived at our destination, we have to walk again..sigh...and again....just like going back to my farther's side...
But that was then..I grew up and matured now, have a kids of my own..have a small car that could accommodate anything and everything and look like tin sardine cap ayam....
Lately family gathering is full of surprises and interesting facts , it was more than just makan-makan session anymore, we hardly see each other and that was the only time to meet long lost family members, new addition or even discovered our roots that has been buried by time and history.
From this meeting I discovered many things that could explain many other things that confused me when I was a kid...
I met an uncle who's working on finding facts on our family line, and he laid out the roots and explained that one of our ancestor were from Kemboja!..travelled down to Tanah Melayu and started a family here and the family grew and have their own family name that sounds like typical Kemboja's name.Somehow the name dissappeared thru times and thru marriage.
Another line were originated from India..that explained why my late tukang rumah grandfather had a strong jaw and prominent nose and so does my mother who on her wedding day, the grooms family said ..'tu diaaa...hidung boleh sangkut baju...'
Another interesting fact was a bit spooky and hard to explain to anybody who don't really understand Malay culture especially the way of life of orang dulu-dulu with their beliefs and pantang larang tok nenek.....'Abdul Rahman' was born with a twin that have his own family line now...but 'Abdul Rahman' is still single but they said that he's in everybody's blood...he is no homosapien..only few people had seen 'Abdul Rahman', people who were closed to my late moyang Tok Dah. She was a bidan and her skill we passed down to my mother who are brave just like her Tok Dah.
According to my mother, Tok Dah on certain night will carry a white cloth with some bertih inside and head to the riverside opposite Istana. Back then she did not understand but she just willingly followed her grandmother everywhere she went.
This story only came out when one of our relative has been diagnosed with a strange sickness that a medical doctor could not cure and even the doctor adviced us to seek a bomoh's help..! By then each of them started to revealed many things that I never heard of before...
It was believed that before Tok Dah died, she had promised that the 'thing' will stop with her death..no anak cucu cicit will follow any ritual pertaining to 'Abdul Rahman'...but something never stop, it will run thru in every vein of the family, some will have her strong and brave character, some will be able to help other people just like what she did and some will just admired her story.
Now I'm waiting for more family gathering and appreciate them even better and don't mind the long journey anymore coz that long journey is a journey to discover the roots of everything.....
This is only part of the missing pieces that we discovered, it is only on my grandfather's side (my mother's side)...my grandmother's line were originated from Malacca and Johore (Bugis) and my grandma's father was called Tok Man Melaka.
When I was at Kg Morten, Malacca doing Urban Study, we visited one old house and the old lady asked us to ketuk gong....after my turn she said to me..'macam Orang Melaka'..and I just smile to her....
My daugther with her Dada's(Benggali for grandpa) prominent nose with my uncle's daugther at our family gathering. She is a combination of Malay and Benggali..hmmm that will be another story
